Bessie Lee Swan

Friday

Nov 16, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Bessie Lee Swan, age 88, passed away at her home in Springer, Okla., on Tuesday, November 13, 2012. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 17, 2012, at Jehovah Missionary Baptist Church in Milo, Okla., with the Reverend Ricky McGee officiating. Interment to follow at Jehovah Cemetery, Milo, Okla.

Bessie Lee Swan, age 88, passed away at her home in Springer, Okla., on Tuesday, November 13, 2012. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 17, 2012, at Jehovah Missionary Baptist Church in Milo, Okla., with the Reverend Ricky McGee officiating. Interment to follow at Jehovah Cemetery, Milo, Okla.

Bessie Lee was born on April 25, 1924, to Florence McGee and Arabella (Williams) McGee at Milo, Okla. She was the third to last born of her 12 siblings. She married Albert Swan Jr. and together they raised four boys on a working farm in Springer, Okla. Bessie was a hard-working woman. In her younger years, she worked as a nurse's aide at night to provide for her family. After Albert's death of cancer in 1976, Bessie held various jobs, including working as a cook at Central High School and at Springer High School where her three eldest boys went to school. Although she had limited financial resources, Bessie was a God-fearing woman who always had a meal or a kind word for visitors at her home. She was able to see all of her children graduate from high school and attend college. Not an easy task for a widowed farmer. During her time with us, Bessie loved to garden, cook and spend time reading the Bible and singing the Gospel. She also took on many new hobbies in her 70s, such as traveling to visit her grandchildren and regular trips to the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. Bessie Lee was an active Elder of the Jehovah Missionary Baptist Church in Milo, Okla., where she also sang in the choir. She loved her family best of all.